Monday, June 16, 2008

after the seattle event tonight, after we were fed all manner of yummy potluck food (much of it edible by this happy vegan!), after the speechifying and the complex arranging of aid boxes so as to pack as much as possible into the little pick up truck (that will then transport said goods to the bus, which is moving ever closer to being mobile), after the goodbyes and the well wishes, after we were chauffered back to our billet where we found our new friends and their newly purchased used kayaks, after all of that hazel decided we ought to walk to the store for some beer. but the beer stores, which are so plentiful here in the land of plenty, are rather a distance from our temporary abode. no problem, ricardo said, i have beer in the fridge, and he showed me the budweiser. i explained that's not beer, and put the kettle on. hazel from england accepted one, surprisingly really considering the quality of beer in england, and she and ricardo proceeded to educate each other about the history of england and chile, maggie thatcher and augusto pinochet while valentina and i enjoyed a fake coffee made from root vegetables and checked our email in the next room.

what's this about?

After the Reverend Lucius Walker Jr. was shot by 'Freedom Fighters,' with a bullet his tax dollars bought (ostensibly to 'liberate' Nicaraguans), he decided to do something different.

This year, 2012, marks the 23rd year for the Pastors for Peace Friendshipment. Sometime in June or July we'll begin journeying along 15 or so different routes, starting in Canada and travelling through the USA and Mexico, collecting and delivering humanitarian aid to the incredible Cubans.

What we're doing is technically illegal. We're challenging a blockade that has held since 1961 - coincidentally, the year I was born. We're delivering humanitarian aid (health and school supplies, computers, etc) directly to the Cuban people.

Cuba is not a perfect society .... but they do some things really well. True to their revolutionary principles, and I believe Che would be pleased, there is an incredible holistic health care system that cares for people from cradle to grave (and perhaps beyond) and all education (including University) is free. They do organic and community agriculture, and they're not slaves to the IMF and World Bank (who demand 'structural adjustment policies,' essentially the death of publically owned services, in exchange for loans.) There is some foreign investment in Cuba, but the Cubans won't allow foreigners to own more than 49%.

We caravanistas believe that Cuba has the right to exist.

You're welcome to follow the journey along .... check out the movie about Che and the revolution, call your local community radio and indy media folks, let them know you want them to follow the 23rd Caravan to Cuba.

Eso si que es la vida !!! This is the life !!!

about me

i've lost faith in the corporate and state media. they claim to be 'balanced' and 'un-biased,' but they're not.

sometimes they lie outright. most of the time they leave a lot of information and context out. they're often earth un-friendly, printing mostly advertising on dead trees. they're funded and motivated by big money, big power, and subsequently we hear what they want us to hear.

i created this blog so i could share my journey with pastors for peace. i've been a social justice and environmental activist for a couple of decades. i'll be up front about it - that's the perspective you'll find here. you don't have to believe any of it if you don't want. go on your own journey, write your own blog. maybe i'll read it.

the first time i participated in the humanitarian aid caravan to cuba was in 2008. i went again in 2009. it's so much fun i'm doing it again in 2012, with the 23rd caravan. it's also a lot of hard work, and expensive, but the cubans are such an inspiration with their free education and health care ... and activists like me feel very welcomed there. if you'd like to share some financial support for the journey, i won't stop you, and i promise i'll spend it responsibly and ethically.